This is more like a season 4 & 5 conbination. Takes place after Caroline asks for the dress but before her graduation.
"Nobody dances sober.
Unless they happened to be insane."
"You're late," Klaus smirked as he motioned her into the Mikaelson mansion, "and gorgeous as always."
Caroline rolled her eyes and followed him to the ball room, already regretting her choice a week ago.
Had it not been the upcoming Miss Mystic Falls alternation ball, which she was just informed to take place mere 2 weeks before its kick-off, she wouldn't have been taking dance lessons with the annoying, arrogant original hybrid.
She and the new Miss MF were to lead the dance as the opening of the ball and she would be coronating the latest Miss MF at the end of the event.
The shallow wannabe girl was desperate enough to bring up the idea of actually dancing instead of swaying around to a slow song (which is what people nowadays usually do) or the full circle turning traditional dance they usually do on the Miss MF pageants, which Caroline couldn't refuse without admitting her lacking of experience and knowledge in ballroom dance.
And 'not knowing how to' was definitely not a Caroline style to go, so she had agreed with the suggestion impulsively before later realizing she had no one to turn to when it comes to tango.
Elena and Bonnie, her fellow cheerleaders, knew apparently as little as she did when it comes to that field. While the Salvatores might picked up a trick or two through their 170-something lifetime, they were both busy handling their own problems- Elena issues undoubtedly. Not that she would ever swallow her pride and ask Damon teach her anyway. And Tyler… Tyler was still on the run. She even had to hire for a professional dance-partner for the ball.
That leaves her no choice but to go to Klaus, who, considering his age, might even happened to invent that dance.
So there she was. Holding his arms with her spine upright, standing mere inches from him in his luxuriously furnished ballroom, one week away from the actual ball.
"Now let's see how much you remember from yesterday. Basic walks, love." Klaus instructed as his hand landed on her back.
She huffed and pierced him an of course I remember everything glare.
He smirked at the look and started counting the beats as her legs moved, "slow, slow, quick-quick-slow, quick-quick-slow…"
Caroline was surprised herself, at how much he'd put himself into this.
He'd been astonishing her since the moment he agreed to tutor her tango, truth be told.
She was just trying her luck when she first came to him, relying on the fact that he did helped her when she last requested the hot as Grace of Monaco dress. It turned out that he not only signed himself in but also made her a tight agenda- more like a serious class syllabus to her- of what to learn right away. He even presented her a well-tailored dress and a pair of dance heels of her exact size at their first lesson.
His strict way of teaching soon spared her effort to hide her gratitude behind hostility. She'd been having trouble catching up his fast pace during the teaching hours and she spent twice amount of time at home practicing.
At the end of the day, practice makes perfect, and Caroline was always too control-freak a girl to give up before mastering something.
"See? I guess I'm quite good at this. We can fast forward through these basics and you can rally some harder moves," Caroline smiled confidently after displaying the achievements of her practice, "perhaps some leg wraps? Oh and maybe that leg hooking move, I always find them hot."
"Despite my looking-forward to you wrapping those legs around mine and the pleasure I would be experiencing if you did do hot things to me," Klaus' trademark smirk found its way to his lips once again, he walked across the room to turn the music on, "I'm afraid boleos and leg wraps would be too difficult for you now."
She huffed as he switched songs, "excuse me, did you just indicate I can't do that boleo thing?"
"Caroline, sweetheart, I'd be an idiot if I said so when I know how you react to people saying you can't do something," he chuckled, satisfied with the melody flowing from the player, "I'm just saving the stunts for later lessons."
He paused a second to find the beat, then moved towards her in impeccable tango walk steps until he was close enough to flash her against his chest in vamp speed, "now let's do some posture correction first. Bend your knees, love, it's the basic of tango."
Caroline did as she was told absentmindedly, feeling his heat conducting through their linked torso, his heartbeat having hers pumping faster as their bodies collided.
His hands squeezed her shoulders before they return to their dance posture places, obviously enjoying the effect he had on her, "relax, love. Dancing is supposed to be something fun to do, not a load to carry. It's all about the trust. As the most intimate dance style, tango requires the most body contact among all ballroom dances. Therefore your upper body should be leaning wholly on mine."
She rolled her shoulders as she tried to do so but failed, "I …I can't, that's the furthest I can go."
"Your arms are too tense," letting go of her hands, Klaus looked firmly, straightly into her eyes, "do you trust me?"
She scowled at his words as she crossed her arms in front of her, posing out cautious defense, "as a matter of fact, no. how am I able to trust the bid, bad hybrid wolf?
"Then why come to me, red riding hood?" Klaus retorted, one brow arching.
Unable to strike back , Caroline hissed in frustration, "you're ridiculous."
"There're only the two of us here, for your information." His hands reached her shoulders again, lightly pressing them toward himself, "you needn't pretend there's nothing besides hostility between us. Nor is it necessary for you to hide the trust you secretly lay on me."
She scoffed and tried raising her hands to push him away, but he was older and faster. By then her hands were already solidly held on her sides, his right arm perching above her blade bone.
"Are we doing this or not?" Klaus queried with a serious expression, leaving her no choice but to shut up and start dancing to the music.
Caroline's lips wiggled as she kept chanting the beats at first. Later, however, she found herself gone in autopilot mode. Lost in his musky scent, his intense stare and the heat radiating between them, she lost track of her steps and realized all these time it had been him who was leading them. A gentle squeeze on the back as a signal of a twirl, a slight strength his hand added on hers would notice her of the change of his pace in advance, a faint weight alteration from his feet could easily steer her to the direction he wanted them to go.
He was in control, as always, in this dance. And somehow miraculously, Caroline, the control freak, was naturally accepting it as well as enjoying it.
It's always been natural if she put some thought into it. She gradually accepted his aid, his rescue; she gradually let the walls she'd built fall, consciously and subconsciously; she gradually opened up herself to him, and even came to asking his assistance on her own will. She was pulled, appealed to him step by step, despite the numerous reasons why she shouldn't be doing so.
At the thought of her friends, the unforgivable things he'd done to them, and, oh, Tyler, she shoved him away abruptly.
"What's the matter?" He asked mildly, hands tucked in the pockets of his jeans casually.
Caroline rested her forehead on her palm, taking a step backwards to create space between the two of them, "I can't. I'm sorry, this is a mistake."
"I'll…just tell them I can't do this tomorrow. Thanks for these days anyway." She bent to take off the heels, ready to head out of the mansion and avoiding eye contact at the same time.
"You are running away from your own feelings, Caroline." Before she could get rid of her shoes, he stated behind her, hands still in pockets.
She froze but remained quiet.
Klaus strode slowly towards her, as if she was an insecure butterfly perching on a fragile paddle of flower and any single movement could scare her away, "since when is 'give up' listed in your dictionary, love?"
"It's just impossible for me, okay? This, this situation, all those horrible, terrifying things you've done to us. Gosh, you even killed Tyler's mom!" She snapped, throwing her hands in the air, "what do you expect me to do? Forget everything, forget my friends and boyfriend and ride off into the sunset with you like you're Price Charming on a white horse?"
"Caroline-" he tried to reason with her but was interrupted by her sudden turn, "don't Caroline me!"
Now that her body had fully turned and she was facing him, she walked up to him until there was once again only a distance of hair between them. Her glare burned directly into his deep blue ocean of orbs as the peach-colored lips parted, emphasizing each word with a heavy finger poking on his broad, hard chest, "and forget that You. Are. Supposed. To. Be. My. Enemy?"
Klaus caught her off guard by grabbing her wrist at her last attack. Confident enhanced by the fact that her true feelings for him was practically implied in her words unintentionally, he cupped her cheek with his free hand and leaned until his forehead was propped against hers, "I'm leaving, Caroline."
Her eyes widened at his words.
"I'll soon be leaving Mystic Falls, for good." His minty breath tickled the sensitive skin of her neck as he whispered, "you'll be freed from this façade, this pretense… so for god's sake, release the burden that you've always been carrying for your friends, your mother, you loved ones and even yourself for just this once and rely on me. It's just a dance, no big deal. You won't even be doing anything villainous with me, theoretically speaking."
"Klaus, I-" she tried to protest with her remaining amount sense but was unfortunately hushed by him.
"You don't have to tell anyone of our lessons." He reassured, "no one will know, except for you."
Taking her shocked speechlessness as a silent approval, he held her into dance posture once again, only that his head wasn't upright but resting on the crook of her neck instead, stubble titillating the fine hair of that personal region.
Caroline's mind was a mess now. The dreadful, reckless original who'd been bothering them for so long, way too long, just informed her about his approaching departure. She should be cheering over the announcement and partying nightlong with her friends, yet deep down inside her heart, something was missing, something just slipped away and disappeared along with his words into thin air. The void it brought her was slowly but painfully consuming her, her mind too chaotic to proceed and make sense, let alone comprehend what he was saying.
"Put your weight on me, let's try some rock steps…"His voice sounded far-off and faded away before she could get any clue, "that's right. Your weights are safe with me, secrets as well, sweetheart."
Caroline had no clue how long they'd tangoed with his head on her, her brain jammed and her legs weak like jelly. She was too busy coming to the conclusion, or rather an excuse for herself, that this confidential intimate bubble, this unvoiced and time-limited romance, this scandalous relationship-if it ever was one- would be taken and hidden away with his departure and it would be therefore OKAY for her to enjoy this guilty deviation. Every cell of her body was screaming to compromise.
It was the loss of pressure on her shoulder that brought her back to reality.
Klaus was now grinning somehow genuinely at her, "you've been doing well. Care for the difficult embellishments you wanted now?"
She nodded without hesitation, secretly being reminded that they were actually having a dance tutorial rather than a date.
"Okay. This is called the caricia, or caress in English." He explained, lips tugging into a playful simper dressed with boyish dimples, "a caricia can be divided into two parts, lustrada and castigada. Meaning to polish, lustrada is executed by the follower, you in our case, lifting her free leg and caressing the supporting leg of the leader, me apparently. As for castigada, or seduction in English, is executed by the follower lifting her free leg and caressing her own supporting leg."
Caroline stiffened as well as sneered in disbelief, "wait, did you just commanded that I caress your leg with mine?"
Klaus hedged by giving her an indifferent shrug, "last time I checked, you were the one who asked for this."
"Ugh, excuse You?" Caroline retreated from their close connection and crossed her arms in front of her chest, "I asked for advanced tango movements, not slutty flirtation. I'm not doing that. Never."
Ever the composed one, Klaus clasped his hands behind him at the loss of warmth in them and bit back with a seemingly authentic smile, "caricias are the fanciest embellishments that you could afford attaining in such short period. It's up to you. But that's something I'd strongly recommend demonstrating on the ball if going on the better of your counterparts is what's on your mind."
Caroline huffed and sighed and furrowed at the idea, but her desire to excel eventually outweighed the restraint every fiber of her rational self yelled to keep.
So she gulped and rubbed her leg against his clumsily, then brushed it on her other calf in hesitation.
"Caroline, love, you're doing it like you're a first grader punished to clean her infant sister's diaper." Klaus frowned, incapable of stifling a chuckle.
She gave him a pointed look after rolling her eyes, "in case you don't know me well enough, it's not like I'm cut out for caressing. It's not what I do."
It happened all in an instant. His hand lowered form her upper back to the small of her back, the other flew behind her head for protection before he slammed her against the nearest wall at an inhuman speed and flushed her body tight against his all at once.
Caroline scowled as she looked down, only to discover that his feet were firmly standing between hers, "what the-"
Yet her sentence was blocked by the gasp she made involuntarily when the fingers on her back drew a series of random circles around her waist, "Caroline, every woman is born to be loved, to be worshiped, to be caressed. And so are they gifted the talent to execute the exact moves."
She whimpered as his hand snaked to the side of her thigh, unable to pronounce a single grumble. Not that she really wanted to, though.
"All you have to do is discover and unleash the passion in the dance while embracing your true self and rejoicing your deepest desire." Klaus muttered to her in that husky, low voice, the heated exhalation he breathed out blazing its track from her earlobe all the way down her collarbone, "follow my lead, love."
The hand behind her head, followed by her acute shiver, swarmed down her spine as she arched her body towards him, lost in the dilemma of yearning or dodging the foreign sensation it lit on her.
She shut her eyes and casted the last ounce of guilt, shame and moral away and did as his said. Her weak leg somehow managed to copy his hand's movement, rose to the back of his calf and glided down at a seducing rate.
He seemed to be pleased by her obedience, the hand on her thigh roamed an even more torturous way from her side to her belly, then upwards until it stationed at the bottom of the valley between her breasts. She mimicked, lifting the leg behind him to the level of his hip, grinding.
"Now please yourself." Klaus ordered, his hands kept on traveling both behind her back and in her cleavage.
Sandwiched between the chill of the wall behind her and the warmth he passed her, she moaned as she withdrew her leg, only to stroke the inside of her other leg, mimicking the way he made use of the space her arched back created.
He chuckled at the noise she made and descended his hand from her back, giving her luscious hip lobe a tight, rough grip.
The grasp sent her an exclamation, and as if that wasn't enough, the hand on her breast cupped it as his thumb brushed the peak of the swelling mound, "it's alright, don't fight it."
The alright word suddenly brought her back to sanity, to the reason why she'd allowed herself this traitorous obscenity with the last partner she should be sharing it on earth.
"I'll soon be leaving Mystic Falls, for good."
An unreconciled sore spiked her heart unexpectedly at the thought of him leaving, and in revenge she cruised her hand from the plane of his chest to his waist, to his ass and gave it a tense pinch on his blind side.
His head snapped and a smug grin appeared on his face as he examine the victorious smile showing off on her delicate lips as if they were shouting for attention.
"You're quite a quick learner, naughty girl." He smiled to her lips as he closed up the painful gap between them, "and you nailed caricia."
Caroline dodged the almost kiss with mischief glimmering in her eyes, "I bet you bid every dance partner the same compliment."
He went with her avoidance, taking it as a game, and turned his attention to her exquisite jawline.
The moment his lips fell on her skin, oh it was the first time in forever, it was like an enormous explosion of the tiny universe within her, sparks soar and stars collide.
"Believe it or not," he mumbled between the kisses and sucks he was placing on the outline of her jaw, "you're the first woman I've ever tangoed with."
Caroline straightened her neck so that she was having direct eye contact with him as she faked curiosity, "then how did you learn how to tango? Am I a guinea pig?"
It was that impish look in Caroline's eyes that made Klaus decide they should put an end to the intro and head for the real show. He crashed his lips on hers hastily, bit gently on her lower lip only to gain access to more of her, which she willingly provided by separating her gritting teeth. Their tongues fought for dominance the way two fierce beasts fought to survive, and in the end the champion pulled away to answer the query she'd already forgotten as his hands gathered bellow her hip, "I have my own means."
She took the hint and leaped for him to catch her thighs, encircling his muscled waist with her ankles crossed on the back of the crack of his ass.
"Shall we?" he tilted his head to the direction of the stairs, which lead all the way upstairs to his luxury room, and that king-sized bed.
It should be okay for just this once. He's leaving, after all.
She nodded and threw her head backwards giggling, freed from all the haunting considerations, just and duties for once, "ah, I must be insane."
-Nobody dances sober, unless they happened to be insane.
AN/
Hurray for my first ever English one-shot! (English isn't my first language so please accept my apology if you find any mistake in the story and feel free to point them out!)
I'm now very excited that I've finally done this, ever since the idea of this story popped into my brain when I was taking my tango lesson it just wouldn't leave me alone.
It might be obvious that my original plot for this fic was way longer and might include some smut but since I'm still green in writing in a foreign language and it's my first one-shot and I've never written any erotic things in English before, I thought I'd better not ruin it. So I put a stop at the foreplay thus stick with the rating T.
I wasn't under my best condition when writing this and as I said this is my first time to cram a whole story into a one-shot, I can only hope you don't find it too boring or the characters too OOC.
However if you're satisfied with this work here, please go check out my multi-chapter Klaroline fanfic And Beauty Remains. It's just reached its 100th review milestone and I can't wait to share more stories with you!
Thanks for reading and please review!